The Religion of Peace strikes again....
Nov. 22nd, 2006 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanjuThis article in NRO reminds me of a story.
At one time the British ruled India. The Indians had a habit of committing suttee (I think it was called), in which the grieving (or at least deeply unhappy, given the circumstances) widow was burned alive on her husband's funeral pyre. The British objected to this practice and began working to stamp it out.
One Indian complained that suttee was a sacred cultural tradition. A British officer replied that they were, of course, perfectly free to practice their sacred traditions--however, it was a sacred British cultural tradition to hang people who did things like that.
What do we get in a similar situation? Mealy-mouthed little State Department toadies scuttling off to bow and scrape in front of barbarians. You think the Saudis would apologize to us if a US citizen had his hand chopped off for theft in Saudi Arabia?
I think not.
What the State Department ought to tell the Saudis is "Tough shit! Slavery is a crime in the United States. We fought a bloody civil war over the issue and it is settled. If your countrymen in the US don't want to go to jail for keeping slaves, then they shouldn't keep slaves!"
At one time the British ruled India. The Indians had a habit of committing suttee (I think it was called), in which the grieving (or at least deeply unhappy, given the circumstances) widow was burned alive on her husband's funeral pyre. The British objected to this practice and began working to stamp it out.
One Indian complained that suttee was a sacred cultural tradition. A British officer replied that they were, of course, perfectly free to practice their sacred traditions--however, it was a sacred British cultural tradition to hang people who did things like that.
What do we get in a similar situation? Mealy-mouthed little State Department toadies scuttling off to bow and scrape in front of barbarians. You think the Saudis would apologize to us if a US citizen had his hand chopped off for theft in Saudi Arabia?
I think not.
What the State Department ought to tell the Saudis is "Tough shit! Slavery is a crime in the United States. We fought a bloody civil war over the issue and it is settled. If your countrymen in the US don't want to go to jail for keeping slaves, then they shouldn't keep slaves!"
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-22 09:34 pm (UTC)You know, shit like this is why we so totally need to detox from oil. Vote to up the gas tax now.